52 complaints, and no cop guilty!

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 17

Since its reconstitution in February, the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) has not been able to find even a single policeman at fault. It has disposed of 52 

complaints so far.

The authority said most cases were not of serious nature and which was why no policeman was indicted. As per its records, the authority has 85 old cases and 59 fresh complaints. It has disposed of 52 complaints in 39 days.

“Our aim is to change the image of police officials. The idea is to make them people-friendly. They sould know that they are under watch,” Justice Mahavir Singh Chauhan (retd), chairman of the authority, said. 

While PCA member AS Gill, former DGP, Rajasthan, said, “There was no seriousness in the complaints filed against police officials. Most of them were of petty nature.” The duo said the police needed to investigate and solve petty cases in a time-bound manner.

The PCA has been in the spot for not abiding by recommendations of the first panel on taking action against policemen. 

The matter had also reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The chairman said, “We can order registration of an FIR against a cop or take disciplinary action.”

The PCA was dissolved after the Punjab and Haryana High Court 

had quashed the appointment of former UT Adviser Pradip Mehra as the chairman.

No third member appointed

The PCA is yet to get its third member. First two bodies had at least three members. Sources said the UT Administration had failed to find the third candidate. “We are doing our job, it is for the Administration to see,” said the chairman.

PCA wants investigators

The PCA has written to the UT Administration to give them a team of investigators. It also requested to put up PCA boards at police stations, bus queue shelters and hospitals for awareness.